11/1 Hymn - "Just As I Am"

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

BIBLE REFERENCE:

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he
that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For
my yoke is easy, and burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Revelation 22:17

Charlotte Elliott - Lyrics
1789-1871
Born: March 18, 1789, Clapham, Surrey, England.
Died: September 22, 1871, Brighton, East Sussex, England.
Buried: St. Andrew’s Church, Hove, Sussex, England.

William Batchelder Bradbury - Composer
1816-1868
Born: October 6, 1816, York, Maine.
Died: January 7, 1868, Montclair, New Jersey.
Buried: Bloomfield Cemetery, Bloomfield, New Jersey.

HYMN HISTORY:

Without question, this hymn has touched more hearts and influenced more people for Christ than any other song ever written. The text was born within the soul of an invalid woman who wrote these words out of intense feelings of uselessness and despair.

Charlotte Elliott was born in Clapham, England, on March 18, 1789. As a young person she lived a carefree life, gaining popularity as a portrait artist and writer of humorous verse. By the time she was thirty, however, her health began to fail rapidly, and soon she became a bedridden invalid for the remaining years of her life. With her failing health came great feelings of despondency. In 1822 a noted Swiss evangelist, Dr. Caesar Malan, visited the Elliott home in Brighton, England. His visit proved to be a turning point in Charlotte's life. In counseling Miss Elliott about her spiritual and emotional problems, Dr. Malan impressed upon her this truth, "You must come just as you are, a sinner, to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." that she never forgot the words of her friend, for they form the very essence of this hymn.

Though Charlotte Elliott lived to be eighty-two years of age, she never regained normal health, and she often endured seasons of great physical suffering. Of her own afflictions she once wrote, "He knows, and He alone, what it is, day after day, hour after hour, to fight against bodily feelings of almost overpowering weakness, languor and exhaustion, to resolve not to yield to slothfulness, depression and instability, such as the body causes me to long to indulge, but to rise every morning determined to take for my motto, 'If a man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.'"

Another time she wrote, "God sees, God guides, God guards me. His grace surrounds me, and His voice continually bids me to be happy and holy in His service just where I am."

Miss Elliott wrote the text for "Just As I Am" in 1836. It was published that same year in the second edition of The Invalid's Hymn Book, a collection which contained 115 of her original works. She wrote this hymn with the desire that it might aid financially in building a school for the children of poor clergymen that her own pastor brother was trying to build in Brighton, England. Miss Elliott felt so helpless in her desire to aid the parishioners in this worthy project. Interestingly enough, this one hymn from the pen of the clergyman's invalid sister brought in more funds than all of his bazaars and projects combined. The brother himself has left these words, "In the course of a long ministry, I hope to have been permitted to see some fruit of my labors; but I feel more has been done by a single hymn of my sister's." More